STATE OF MICHIGAN

FRANK J. KELLEY, ATTORNEY GENERAL

Opinion No. 5971

August 26, 1981

LEGISLATURE:

Time for Commission on Legislative Apportionment to adopt apportionment plan or plans

The Commission on Legislative Apportionment has 180 days from the date it convenes and 'all necessary census information is available' to discharge its constitutional duty to formulate a reapportionment plan or plans as mandated by Const 1963, art 4, Sec. 6.

Honorable David S. Holmes, Jr.

State Senator

The Capitol

Lansing, Michigan

You have requested my opinion on the following question:

In Const 1963, art 4, Sec. 6, the people have established a Commission on Legislative Apportionment, hereafter the Commission, consisting of eight members and empowered it to reapportion the Senate and the House of Representatives after each federal decennial census. Const 1963, art 4, Sec. 6, in pertinent part, provides:

A plain reading of this section indicates that the Secretary of State shall, within 30 days after receipt of the official total population count of the federal decennial census of the state and its political subdivisions, issue a call convening the Commission upon a date certain not less than 30 or more than 45 days thereafter. The official total population count of the state and its political subdivisions was received by the Governor on March 16, 1981. Thus, the Secretary of State issued his call on April 20, 1981, convening the Commission on June 1, 1981.

Because the authority to reapportion the Legislature is vested in the Commission on Legislative Apportionment, a body composed of eight members, as authorized by Const 1963, art 4, Sec. 6, the Commission may not begin its work until the date selected by the Secretary of State for convening the Commission and only when a quorum of the members of the Commission is present. The Commission may make final decisions only through minutes or resolutions adopted at a meeting, a quorum being present, and receiving the concurrence of the majority of members of the Commission. Tavener v Elk Rapids Rural Agricultural School Dist, 341 Mich 244; 67 NW2d 136 (1954).

In Const 1963, art 4, Sec. 6, the people have further required that the Commission shall complete its work 'within 180 days after all necessary census information is available.' (Emphasis supplied.)

It must be noted that in the past, the official population count for this state and its political subdivisions and all necessary census information did not arrive simultaneously. Thus, in a letter opinion addressed to Secretary of State Richard H. Austin dated March 2, 1971, the Attorney General concluded that inasmuch as the available block and tract information would not be furnished the Commission for possibly three or four months after the receipt of the official state figures, that the commission had 180 days after the additional information became available to it to complete its work.

The language of Const 1963, art 4, Sec. 6, p5, sentence 2, is crystal clear. The people have commanded the Commission to complete its work within 180 days after it convenes, a quorum being present, provided that, in addition to the official total population count, 'all necessary census information is available.'

This reading of Const 1963, art 4, Sec. 6 is supported by an examination of both the Address to the People and the Debates of the Constitutional Convention.

The following portions of the Address to the People are relevant to your inquiry:

A review of the Official Record of the Constitutional Convention is both informative and helpful. Const 1963, art 4, Sec. 6 was considered by the convention as Committee Proposal 79 and, in pertinent part, the proposal read as follows:

Delegate John Hannah, Chairman of the Committee on Legislative Organization, submitted the following reason in support of the pertinent portion of Committee Proposal 79 quoted above:

Although the convention debated Committee Proposal 79 and considered a number of amendments not relevant to this issue, there was no further discussion by the convention as to Const 1963, art 4, Sec. 6, p5.

Thus, it must be concluded that based upon a plain reading of Const 1963, art 4, Sec. 6, p5, the pertinent portions of the Address to the People, and the debates of the convention, the Commission, after it convenes, has 180 days after 'all necessary census information is available' in which to complete its work.

With regard to that part of your question dealing with 'when the census information was received from the federal government,' I was advised in an August 10, 1981 letter from the Secretary of State as follows:

The conclusion of the Secretary of State is critical on the question of when 'all necessary census information is available' because Const 1963, art 4, Sec. 6 also provides:

It is my opinion, therefore, that had 'all necessary census information [been] available' when the Commission on Legislative Apportionment first convened on June 1, 1981, it would have had 180 days thereafter within which to discharge its constitutional duty to formulate a reapportionment plan or plans as mandated by Const 1963, art 4, Sec. 6.

However, based on the advice received from the Secretary of State that 'to date' the Commission on Legislative Apportionment has not 'received the necessary information,' I must conclude that the 180 day period has not, as yet, commenced. I recognize that the data supplied by the Census Bureau is subject to continuing correction and updating and, therefore, conclude that it is for the Secretary of State in the first instance, and ultimately the Commission on Legislative Apportionment itself, to determine when, in the language of the constitution, 'all necessary census information is available.'

Frank J. Kelley